I think I have the answer already. but

[RaRa]

I'd respect your replies just the same.

I joined a moms group. It's a somewhat not conservative area that is represented by Hastert. I joined because I'm new to the area (came from a really liberal oasis in Chicago)and this is a bible thumping county (I carry my DU bumper sticker with pride and a little bit of fear!). This little enclave seems more enlightened than others (sponsors some of the only peace marches in the area). Anyway, they perform the pledge of allegiance prior to their meetings and I was taken aback. I had to spit it out in childhood, but now it actually means something to me and it's a LIE to me. (liberty and justice for all- until there is no capital punishment, that will continue to be a lie to me). I REALLY don't want to make a political statement in this arena, but how do I respect my beliefs (i.e. don't regurgitate this speech like a mantra) and not offend folks?

Ok, I think I have the answer. I just will stand but not say anything. I have very strong politically opinions (who on this board doesn't?). But I have the years/,maturity to not shove it down someone's throat. I'm thinking that in the unlikely event that someone actually asks me about why I remain silent,that I will say that I have strong opinions but I don't think that this is the arena to share them unless someone wants me to.

Is it a really big mistake to make this "small" statement? I don't think it is, since I'm kind of thinking no one will notice. While my first preference is to not stand at all, that's going farther than I want to and would make more statement than I want to off the bat.

I feel a little pitiful asking this here. But, I really have no serious friends here, and I really want some ties. I've always had difficulty making female friends. Maybe it's because I have two big brothers (I make guy friends easily), or maybe it's something else. But, it has saddened me for many years, that I have such difficulty making female friends.

What do you all think?

[Longhorn]

1. That's how I handle the "Under God" part of the pledge as well as

prayers, since I'm an atheist. I'll recite the pledge but leave those words out. And I don't participate in prayers but I'm not rude about it.

In fact, I attended my mother's church and the rows emptied one by one to go to the front to take communion. I just stayed in my seat. I may have been the only person in the church who did that but no one was openly upset about it, including my mother, who happens to be a lay minister at that church!

[politicat]

2. As a strong atheist-agnostic, the PoA is uncomfortable for me.

But as a military brat, raised to really and truly love and respect the principles upon which we're founded, I get pulled that way, too.

I pledge to the ideals, not to the actual entity that bears the name United States of America. I don't pledge to pieces of cloth or to symbols. I don't pledge allegiance to something that excludes me, so the under god bit gets mutated to Under Law. (Though the PoA flows better without that clause, but that's the poet in me...) I sometimes say it, when I think that it is being used appropriately, not as a bludgeon to intimidate people into overt shows of jingoism. (Don't get me started on the Star Spangled Banner, though...)

My best friend growing up came from a Jehovah's witness family. JWs don't ever say the PoA, nor do they stand for it. The right to speech also means the right not to speak, and if you're not comfortable standing or saying the PoA, don't. If any one asks, you can always say that you have some personal and private reservations about public displays of patriotism and let it go at that.

I think you're making a reasonable decision, and I wish you were here in Colorado...